


Helping a Friend

by LordTraco



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Amicable Breakup, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/M, Helping Ringo Through the Break Up, Post-Break Up, Self Discovery causes break up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25660813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordTraco/pseuds/LordTraco
Summary: Ringo and Tee break up. It's an amicable break up, but Amitie knows that her friend needs some support. Sig is on board for this and helps in his own way, but the thought of a break up has them both a little fearful of the future.
Relationships: Amitie/Sig (Puyo Puyo), Ringo Ando & Tee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Helping a Friend

It was a peaceful morning on the way to school, something he always enjoyed with his best friend. Today it was different, however. While Amitie made a point to smile at him and continue whatever conversation he started for a little, she let the words drop more often than not. What’s more, her face was reddened and she kept returning to this pensive look. 

“Did something happen?” Sig asked as they rounded a corner, the school coming into view. They always made it a habit to leave early enough to still make it even if they found an interesting bug or three, but he’d been so caught up focusing on his friend that he hadn’t noticed even a single fly. At least now it meant they had plenty of time to talk this out if she was in any way upset with him. He didn’t think it was him, but it would still be nice to hear that it wasn’t.

She stopped, looking to the ground with a disgruntled sigh. “I’m not supposed to say but Tee broke up with Ringo.” She balled up her fists, trying to focus on keeping her anger in favor of the other emotions that could be coming with this knowledge instead.

“Is she ok?” Sig looked at her, reaching to hold her shoulder in a small attempt at comfort. Maybe she was sad for her friend? But she looked angry, was she angry that Tee hurt Ringo? He wasn’t sure if he could do anything to comfort Ringo if she was upset, but maybe helping Amitie calm down could tangentially help Ringo?

Amitie paused as his clawed hand faintly brushed her shoulder. He never really grasped living things with his claw, not people and definitely not bugs, only ever patting with the soft palm. It was definitely because he’d killed a bug or three with his claw in the past, but she would never dare bring up those memories again.

“She’s doing as well as she can…” Amitie let her words drop off, avoiding eye contact as if meeting his gaze would tell him all her secret fears and insecurities. Ringo and Tee were like two peas in a pod, they’d seemed an absolutely perfect match, and if they couldn’t make it-

Amitie took a deep breath, stopping the train of thought there again before it made her cry. If she cried in front of Sig he’d ask what was wrong and she couldn’t pass it off as worry for her friend! 

Sig paused in thought, wracking his brain for a solution. “Oh. We have time, do you want to go get her an apple?”

“An apple?” Amitie looked up, questioningly. 

“She likes apples, right?” Sig said with a shrug. Amitie could definitely think of something better to give their friend, an apple was just what first came to mind. There was a shopping center not far from where they were with plenty of options. 

“Yeah! Oh and we could get her one of those puzzle books! She’ll solve it in no time flat but it’ll help keep her mind off of him too! Sig you’re a genius!” Amitie brightened up considerably, taking a little step forward to kiss his cheek in appreciation.

Sig blushed, smiling gently before pressing a kiss to her forehead. While they hadn’t put any labels on it, they shared kisses on occasion and made time for each other whenever possible. It was nice to receive such gentle affection, but almost better to give it back.

“C’mon, if we do this fast we might even have time to look for bugs on the way back!” Amitie said, tugging his hand. Although in truth she wanted to linger there in soft kisses all day, she wanted to help her friend more.

Sig felt his heart do a small summersault in his chest. Kisses were one thing, but her still wanting to make time for his passion in life? Even when she had all this going on? Even when she wasn’t super into bugs like he was? 

...

"Please don't be angry with him, Amitie, it took a lot of courage to come forward with how he was feeling." Ringo was cornered at her desk by Sig and Amitie. She’d appreciated the presents at the beginning of class, but she’d been dreading the end this whole time, knowing this conversation was coming.

“What do you mean? You told me he broke up with you so suddenly!” 

"Look, at first it was a whirlwind of emotions, he was cute and funny and from a whole other dimension! We valued every moment we got together and it heightened our emotions." Ringo explained as one would a math equation, "He said he'd thought about it a lot and couldn't return my feelings. He said it was thanks to our relationship that he was able to discover that he is aromantic."

“Aromantic?” Amitie felt her anger fading away, faced with this new word. 

"It's when you don't feel romantic feelings for others. He apologized a lot, not for how he is, but for the fact he hadn't known sooner.” Ringo laughed joylessly, “It's not like he had many friendships, let alone relationships, to learn from."

"But Ringo, are you doing ok?" Sig said. He'd been quiet for most of this, listening to the valid reasonings and excuses for the breakup. It sounded just like when she explained piecing together a puzzle, but this wasn't a puzzle. Even if it was an amicable breakup, there still had to be some hurt. He knew all too well from Amitie that it helped to let that hurt be known.

"I'm. I mean I understand his-"

"-Tee isn't the point right now, Ringo, we want to make sure  _ you're _ ok." Amitie said the words Sig was thinking and he appreciated being on the same wavelength.

"I. Well." Ringo looked down to the apple they'd gotten her, tilting it back and forth on her desk. "I'm kinda mad, I guess? Not at him but at myself for not seeing the signs. And for falling for him. I fell really hard." She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes.

Amitie was hugging her in an instant. "It's ok to cry, it's just me and Sig."

"I-I didn't want to cry in front of Tee or a-anyone. I don't want anyone being mad at him for something he can't help but it hurts…" Ringo clung to Amitie tightly. She’d purposefully felt nothing for so long that finally letting it out a little meant letting all of it out in a torrent. It felt like she’d let her emotions build like puyos and now they were finally popping in an endless chain.

Amitie hugged her tighter, rubbing small circles in her friend's back. It made tears come to her eyes too, just seeing Ringo break down like this. She could understand her hesitance now. If she'd seen Ringo like this at the beginning, she might have wanted to light Tee on fire. 

Sig patted Ringo's shoulder with his right hand, wanting to show his support too. 

"We're here for you, Ringo. Me, Sig, Arle, Carby, Maguro, Raffina, puyo I bet even Klug would be here for you if you needed it!" Amitie said softly.

"I don't think we'll ever see the day Klug willingly hugs someone." Ringo laughed a little, pulling back to wipe at her tears.

"I have hope, but I meant he'd probably yell at you to feel better and Puyo battle you until you did." Amitie softly chuckled at the thought.

"I could see that!"

Sig remained silent, taking his arm back and fiddling with the ladybug in his hair. The issue seemed mostly resolved, but he still wanted to help in a tiny way.

“Do you want to hold Dottie-bug?” He asked, holding out his ladybug for Ringo.

“Dottie-bug?” Ringo over to see Sig offering the large ladybug that typically hung out in his hair. “Oh, um, sure!”

The ladybug walked onto her outstretched hand, tickling a little as it walked. It stretched out a wing and started to rub at it with its legs.

“That means she likes you.”

“O-oh.” While she wasn’t sure if she believed the statement, it was still very sweet of Sig to trust her with his beloved ladybug. She let it crawl around a bit until apparently had enough and flew back to Sig’s hair. 

Amitie watched the scene with a giddy smile. She liked seeing Sig trust in others, and she especially liked that it had distracted Ringo enough to dry her tears. 

“Hey Ringo ★,” came a voice from the hallway, “I didn’t forget your birthday or something, did I? ★”

“Oh! Maguro! No, no, it was uh.” Ringo fumbled for words.

“We followed a bug to the market and found some stuff she might like.” Amitie said, mixing together partial truths. “Which we never did find, let’s go Sig!” 

“Huh?” was all he could get out before being dragged away by his-by Amitie. 

“Why did we have to leave?” He asked when they were outside the school. 

“I’ve heard Risukuma say that those two have chemistry. I don’t really know, but I figured they could use some alone time.” Amitie explained quickly, letting go of his red hand. 

“Oh.”

“Not that I’m playing matchmaker. I just also didn’t want to be the one to say Tee broke up with her, but I had to figure out some reason for the gifts and I didn’t want to have to further the lie, you know I don’t like lies but-”

Sig put a gentle hand to her shoulder, giving a soft look that said “breathe, I’m in no rush.”

She took a small breath to steady herself, wondering what could have gotten her riled up. Then it dawned on her: the anxiety from earlier in the day. The concept of a breakup happening between the two of them. She took another breath, trying to slow her steadily climbing heartrate.

“Amitie?”

“Sig, would-” She stopped herself. What could she even ask?  _ Would you ever break up with me _ ? No, she couldn’t do that. Could they even break up if they didn’t ever make it official? Would they just… stop one day? Stop the kisses and hanging out and drift apart? Would she lose him?

She felt her hands grow warm as he took them in his own. He was so gentle and warm. She didn’t want to lose this. She never wanted to lose him.

“Please talk to me.” Sig said, searching her face for some sort of sign as to what had her so upset.

“I’m sorry, I-I’m just. It’s a silly thought, and it’s dumb to bring up but-” 

He kissed her hand. “If it was silly you’d laugh. If it was dumb, you wouldn’t be bothered by it.”

“I’m just scared I guess. If we ever… broke up. Would we stay friends?”

“Yes.” He said with absolute certainty that she was almost taken aback.

“But what if it wasn’t a good break up and it really hurt and neither of us could stand to look at the other because it hurt so bad?”

Sig took his hands away slowly. “You think that would happen?” 

“Wait no!” She grabbed his hands back, hating the sad tone to his voice and frown on his blue spirit. “I don’t, I just don’t know what the future holds. What if-”

“What if I hurt you… like Tee hurt Ringo.” He looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. What if he made her cry like that? How could he live with himself if he ever made that happen?

Amitie nodded, “Or vice versa, I don’t know if I could handle hurting you.”

“But wouldn’t we… talk?” Sig asked, looking to her eyes, searching for some hope.

“Talk?”

“Wouldn’t we talk it out? And understand where the other is coming from?”

“I would try to-”

“I would too.”

“Then…” Realization dawned on her. “If we did, we would just talk it out and fix what we could, right?”

“Of course.” Sig smiled at the hope returning to her eyes. He pulled her into a hug. “I won’t let anything break our friendship. I want to be close with you forever, in any way you’ll let me.”

She snuggled close into his hug, cherishing his warmth and words like they were a welcome lullaby. After the emotions of the day, she was uncharacteristically exhausted, and he was so safe, warm, and definite. He was in her life forever, not going anywhere, as long as they could communicate. 

“You mind if I carry you?” He asked softly, feeling her leaning more and more into him. It wasn’t far to her home, and if it meant holding her close, he’d gladly take the time to carry her home. 

She nodded into his shoulder, too exhausted to care if anyone sees. Some people already figured out they were practically dating, who cared if a couple more did. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to be close to Sig. Ok and she also loved being reminded that her cute and affectionate love was strong enough to carry her. 

…

They ended up cuddling on a couch for a little while, Amitie taking a power nap while Sig read one of his books on insects, discreetly pulling out his glasses to better read. Amitie would awaken to Sig looking cute as always and be thankful that he was in her life. And Sig would spend the whole time reassured that they were ok. They were alright, and they would stay that way.

**Author's Note:**

> I went with my headcanon that Tee might be aromantic in this fic, partly out of love for my friend IRL who recently found out she was the same, and partly based on my own past relationship that ended in me finding out we just didn't mesh as anything but friends. It's a kind of wishful scenario where the break up didn't involve tears or blame.  
> It's also a bit of projecting my fears of entering another relationship that might come to a bad end, and a reminder that all it takes is good communication to prevent the worst. 
> 
> Sorry to get personal, I guess tonight is the night for projecting onto characters for catharsis, weeeeeeee~


End file.
